Gambian Vice President Badara Joof is dead

The Gambia's vice president, Badara Joof, has passed away.

President Adama Barrow revealed that the unfortunate occurrence took place in India in a tweet.

“Fellow #Gambians, it is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing away of my #VicePresident, His Excellency, Badara Alieu Joof. The sad event took place in India after a short illness. May Allah grant him Jannahtul Firdawsi,” he tweeted.

The vice president passed away following a brief illness. The president did not specify when he passed away or whether he was receiving medical attention in India.

Joof attended Armitage High School and received his teacher training at Yundum Teachers' College, according to his Wikipedia bio.

He graduated from the University of Bristol with a bachelor's in education, the University of London with a master's in English literature, and the University of Bath with a master's in development economics.

As a certified teacher, Joof started his profession by instructing English at The Gambia College.

At the time, he oversaw the language and literature program at Nusrat High School. For a long time, he served as the Ministry of Education's permanent secretary. He was reportedly promoted to the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Lands in March 2002.

Joof served as the Gambia's World Bank liaison officer. In this capacity, he helped Mariama Sarr-Ceesay, minister of higher education, bring a new education policy to the Gambia.

In order to better understand the numerous difficulties they encountered, Joof traveled to various project locations in the Gambia in 2013 with representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Joof was hired by the World Bank in 2014 as an education specialist in Dakar, Senegal.

President Barrow appointed Joof to be his Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science, and Technology on February 22, 2017.